Posted in: Movies, Universal | Tagged: david gordon green, film, Mike Flanagan, The Exorcist, The Exorcist: Believer

David Gordon Green Reveals Details About His Scrapped Exorcist Sequel

The Exorcist: Believer filmmaker David Gordon Green shares new details about his scrapped plans for The Exorcist trilogy.

Published Sat, 14 Sep 2024 15:47:07 -0500

by Aedan Juvet

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Article Summary

David Gordon Green exits future Exorcist films, Mike Flanagan takes over as director.
Green had planned an ambitious Exorcist trilogy, including European backdrops.
Creative differences influenced Green’s departure from the Exorcist reboot.
Will Mike Flanagan’s vision revive the Exorcist franchise for modern audiences?

After the release of The Exorcist: Believer, the long-running franchise hit a bit of a lull, proving to be less than impressive to audiences and critics. As a result, the next film has undergone a major creative overhaul, with The Exorcist: Believer filmmaker David Gordon Green exiting the project and Mike Flanagan (The Haunting of Hill House, Doctor Sleep) taking over. But considering that the former director had extensive plans in place for the future of The Exorcist, some fans are left wondering what could have been. Now, Green is opening up about why his trilogy didn't pan out and where the next entry would have taken Ann Dowd's character.

The Exorcist: Believer Has A Message, If You Want To Hear It {Review} — (from lower left, clockwise) Angela Fielding (Lidya Jewett, back to camera), Katherine (Olivia O'Neill), Pastor Don Revans (Raphael Sbarge), Doctor Beehibe (Okwui Okpokwasili), Ann (Ann Dowd), Tony (Norbert Leo Butz), Miranda (Jennifer Nettles) and Stuart (Danny McCarthy) in The Exorcist: Believer, directed by David Gordon Green.

David Gordon Green Had Clear Trilogy Plans for The Exorcist

While speaking to IndieWire, Green reveals, "We had our next one written and had it mapped out for the third one. Again, it was ambitious and complicated. We were going to Europe for some pretty extraordinary backdrops. It was one of those things where all of the creative parties got together. What I'm pitching, in terms of my professional ambition is, I need the creative freedom and give me the budgetary constraints so I can keep control of that. That's something we learned pretty quickly, [with] expectations that are limitless and really daunting. So, for me to keep that creative freedom and be able to make the choices I wanted to make… As you see with the Halloween movies, the choices I make aren't always the most popular ones." He also mentions that those involved in the production side of things had a different vision for the franchise, adding, "I don't think they were on the journey I was excited about taking."

Now that the future of The Exorcist franchise has shifted over to Flanagan, do you believe that The Exorcist still has the potential to resonate with modern audiences? Or was its struggle merely related to franchise burnout? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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